As a reaction to my post the other day, and a few LTE's in the Observer supporting my stance....And after the project's leadership dismissed the idea because (i am paraphrasing here) 'sales went down from '02 to '04 when we stuck with shades of green' (and nevermind that the team went from 10 to 5 to 6 wins and Ty got canned during that same time period - let's blame it all on the color) in THEIR letter to the editor, I have decided that it's time to take a stand here. So, we're launching an all-out, grassroots campaign to UNITE ND STADIUM under a single, consistent color, year in and year out.
This is about doing what's best for ND Football, and recognizing that all the great benefits of The Shirt 1) Will not go away with a single color and 2) Are owed to the success of the Football Team in the first place
So, I've created a petition HERE.
Step 1: GO SIGN IT! That's done by CLICKING HERE.
Step 2: Forward the link to EVERY ND FAN YOU KNOW. Facebook it, Tweet it (#FixTheShirt is the hashtag), Email it, whatever. Just get the word out.
Step 3: EMAIL theshirt@nd.edu and let them know you've signed and that you want a single color for The Shirt. Forever.
Step 4: Spread the word some more. C'mon, it's quick - just shoot off that email, tweet, whatever. Please?
It's time to fix this thing folks. It's time to welcome opposing teams with unity and fire when they walk into ND Stadium. Help us out!
By The Shirt Petition - Irish Envy | Notre Dame Football Discussion January 26, 2012 - 4:53 pm
[...] The Shirt Petition Not a bad idea: Time to #FixTheShirt! | Her Loyal Sons [...]
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By Joe January 26, 2012 - 5:23 pm
I have an idea for a compromise. Each new Notre Dame football head coach chooses the primary color for The Shirt, and every 5 years after the coach was hired, then can reconsider their color choice. This would allow consistency, but still allow for change if everyone gets sick of a certain green or blue. Many alumi that I know do not buy The Shirt because they know that they are only coming to one game a year and the shirt will be very different in each of the coming years. However, instead of never buying The Shirt, they would most likely buy The Shirt one or two of those 5 years if they knew that they could wear it in the coming years without sticking out like a sore thumb. Also, having long-sleeve and sweatshirt versions would help keep people from wearing such a mismatch of colors in the late season, cold weather games.
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By NDtex January 26, 2012 - 5:36 pm
I’ve attended a handful of Auburn games while visiting my sister. There is one color: orange, period. You may see the occasional fan in a blue or white Auburn jersey, but that’s it.
Furthermore, the frat guys are required to wear shirt, ties, khakis/slacks should they sit in their section that is close to the field. Their dates are required to wear dresses. Somehow, they all managed to get creative with orange.
My sister didn’t think she’d ever get into that, yet her closest is now full of orange shirts and dresses. Personally, I own 4 different orange shirts, two of which are orange gameday shirts made for that specific week. I don’t even go there and I’ve bought as many official shirts as I did while I was a student at ND.
The color doesn’t drive sales, the fans do. Fans of a winning football team spend more money, always.
For the love of God, think out of the box!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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By ShamRockNRoll January 26, 2012 - 5:59 pm
YES!!! This is a great idea! Just signed the petition, and sending an email momentarily.
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By ShamRockNRoll January 26, 2012 - 7:05 pm
I received the following reply from my email to The Shirt committee. Maybe they’re taking this seriously… Or maybe they’re just being polite.
“Thank you for your support and suggestions concerning this year’s The Shirt Project. The Shirt Project always strives to take feedback seriously, and we thank you for you taking time out of your day to contact us. This year’s committee will be starting new initiatives in order to try to unify Notre Dame Stadium under one color. Hopefully, if our initiatives are met with a positive response, a tradition will be started for an intimidating Notre Dame Stadium.
Thanks,”
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By The Biscuit January 26, 2012 - 7:25 pm
The problem is that they are thinking they are going to ‘do things differently this year’ to get everyone to rally THIS YEAR around THIS YEAR’S color. This will NEVER EVER HAPPEN. Too many people come from different places at different times to make this work. It will only work over time, with consistency from year to year to year. It won’t happen AT ALL if they try to make the entire stadium consistent with one color in ’12, and another in ’13. No way. But that’s what they think they’re going to do. Not gonna work.
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By Greg January 26, 2012 - 7:09 pm
Biscuit,
Like you, I would love to have one, united color spread around the stadium. I often make fun of the crowd color for being “distinctly indistinct.” Seriously, while there is no defined color, couldn’t you pick that mesh of green, blue, gray, gold and white out from anywhere? I actually think the biggest problem is that it gets cold too early and not many people own Kelly green winter jackets.
When I was at ND, I had the honor of serving on the school’s Financial Advisory Board. One of the most important responsibilities of the FAB is allocating money gained from selling The Shirt to students with unaffordable, serious health issues. I don’t want to get all sappy here, but the (sometimes life saving) burden that is lifted off the shoulders of these students and their families is truly unbelievable.
In your first article, you say one of the purposes is “raising money for some important student funds.” I don’t think enough emphasis is placed here on how truly vital this money is to some Notre Dame students and their families. Some of the stories I heard on the FAB were heartbreaking, and one of the beautiful things about The Shirt is that the money gained from sales can give these stories a happy ending.
That being said – it is only worth changing the color every year if it actually does increase shirt sales and raise more money for these amazing causes. You make a good point that their sample size on this is questionable. To me, the money gained (if it actually is) by new Shirt colors is too important to pass up.
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By The Biscuit January 26, 2012 - 7:28 pm
I agree with you. I challenge the logic that says that color changes drive sales, not the importance of the fund uses. I am not at all advocating we end funding those causes to get the stadium united. I think sales will be better with unification. And if not, I offer a number of ways to make up for the shortfall. Wins = Sales. Color is on the periphery. Especially with the ugly-ass colors chosen in recent years. If anything, the ‘creativity’ is HURTING SALES. Not the other way around.
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By kyndfan January 27, 2012 - 8:25 am
I emailed several people last night using the petition site. My wife gave me the same excuse the shirt people gave you. I’m gonna tell her what I’ve read here. I think you’re right. A winning team will sell more shirts. Same color doesn’t mean same design. I would still like to see new designs every year, but that wouldn’t change the look of the stadium.
I look forward to the day ND installs field turf, a jumbotron, and the crowd appears unified.
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By trey January 27, 2012 - 9:04 am
Ive not really been “proud” of being a member of this site, but this initiative of yours sure changes that(im just kidding, I always have been worn the HLS moniker with pride). I applaud yall for taking this stand and uniting all of us behind you. Congrats for taking this leadership role and for all the successes we seem to be having on this issue.
Only one complaint…do we REALLY have to put the petition on freaking “change dot org?” Gag.
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By trey January 27, 2012 - 9:08 am
Also, I wish you would add to the petition a bit more about the supportive environment that we fans (alumni and sub-alumni) will create for the project. We have supported The Shirt for years and would do anything to make it be successful long-term. We WANT to support the worthwhile charity initiatives that The Shirt engages in, but it makes it hard when we have such an issue with the changing colors every year.
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By RoamingDomer January 27, 2012 - 12:03 pm
2 points I have read stick out to me:
1 – Unified color for 5 years. While I’m definitely a fan of the idea of having one color, I can still see an issue when you get hires that come so close to each other. Example: Had this rule been around during the Bob Davie era, he would have had one color, then 3 years with Willingham, then Weis comes around. I’d be more of a proponent of a 10 year “color of the decade” that is set, and which can be reevaluated upon the next decade. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the coach deciding, either — I’d rather see the committee that helps design and market the shirt pick that color, to give a better swath of people with an eye on current trends instead of the coach — or any one person — saying something akin to “Let’s go with green, with a higlight from Rudy in screenprint”.
(Sidebar: School colors are Blue and Gold. Those should be the options, not Green or anything else.)
2 – Having The Shirt available in long-sleeve and/or sweatshirt (hoodie?) styles would definitely be a plus. Were Notre Dame down in, say, Alabama, there wouldn’t really be a need for anything other than a t-shirt. But having been raised in South Bend, and on campus during football season for my 4 wonderful undergraduate years, I can say with confidence that I have been in everything from sunburn-inducing heat to near-frostbite cold so I could cheer on the Fighting Irish. Maybe a “combo pack” where you can buy one, the other, or both would be a viable option.
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By ShamRockNRoll January 27, 2012 - 9:39 pm
Yes, our school colors are Blue and Gold. But come on, of course Green is acceptable for the Fightin’ Irish. If they settle on any one of the three and make it permanent, I will be happy.
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By Jeremy January 27, 2012 - 6:55 pm
Stick with one color, and people will start buying jackets that match.
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By trey January 28, 2012 - 1:12 pm
I actually liked last year’s blue. We could stick with that, and i’d be happy too. I just think green is more accepted because there are so few schools that have THAT color green. Tons of schools have some form of blue or a yellow, but very few have green at all and Sparty is about the only other one with green in that darkness.
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